Lifescapes

The Tonkawa Indians, the people who lived in this land before the Anglos moved in, had a use for every plant. The buffalo gourd--a sprawling annual that looks like a huge cucumber vine and bears round green gourds about the size of a tennis ball--was one of their most versatile resources. I took this photo yesterday morning, out with the dogs. Seeing the vine again this spring is like seeing an old friend--it grows in only one place at Meadow Knoll. It's blooming just now, but also bearing fruit, and the ground is littered with the dried husks of fruits from previous years, but the seeds have been carried off by the mice and voles. Last year, I turned over a rock and found a cache of them, carefully hoarded against a future famine. I replaced the rock carefully. I wouldn't want some giant intruder raiding my pantry. 

Daniel Moerman's massive reference book, Native American Ethnobotany, shows that at least two dozen tribes used the plant's root, vine, flower, and fruit for food (but only when the fruit was very young, before it got bitter), dyes, medicines, rattles, ladles, lashings, soaps, shampoo, insecticide, and toys. Medicinally, it was used to treat sores, venereal disease, parasites, toothache, and a variety of other ills. I've even read that the Indian moms, wanting to wean their babies, would smear the bitter juice on their breasts so that the child couldn't nurse. If I were a Tonkawa baby, I'd call that a dirty trick, but if I were a Tonkawa mother, I'm sure I'd see the wisdom in it. An versatile plant, put to so many uses, by wonderfully resourceful humans.

Writing Notes. Moving forward with Applebeck Orchard, but slowly. I'm not sure whether it's the distractions (doing some online promotion right now with book clubs and planning next year's book tour) or just that I'm not yet far enough into the book to be fully focussed on it. I have 18k words (starting the fourth chapter), and the storyline, which I sort of know but not quite, is just beginning to emerge. For me, the interest in these Cottage Tales is not the "mystery," which is usually pretty slight, but the settings and the people/animal characters. Most readers seem to feel the same way, judging from reviews and emails. The central conflict in this book--the narrative that pulls and pushes the story forward--is a controversy over the closing of a public footpath, which in those days would have been a big deal, sort of like closing the Town Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail in Austin. Since this isn't a very familiar concept to readers, I have to do quite a bit of set-up for it, without boring them to death with details. A difficult balance to strike.

Reading note. Everything happens in life. Some of what happens is terrible. We know this is true because it has always been true. But there is another truth available, an inexplicable and sometimes crazy truth that is no less compelling. The living of a life, day by day and moment by moment, is also wild with joy.--Reeve Lindbergh, Forward from Here [my review of this book is currently in the works]

Madonna lilies always make me think of my mother, who lived in our local nursing home for the last five years of her life. She was cheerful, friendly, outgoing, and people loved to give her flowers, especially at Easter. Every year, she'd send me back home with a couple of pots of lilies to put in the garden. They're especially pretty this year, pure white trumpets, stamens heavy with yellow pollen. This one has been visited by a nectar--seeking insect--you can see the scattering of pollen on the petal. The plants are getting crowded. If Mom were here, she'd tell me to divide them, so this fall, that's what I'll do.

Yep, it's true--101.8 on our digital thermometer yesterday, and that's in the shade. Austin hit 101, too, a record temp for the day and an indication of what's in store in coming decades. Gardeners pay attention to the temperature, because it affects our plant selection, planting dates, harvest, and just about everything else. The warming is already noticeable enough to require an update in the USDA's hardiness zone. There's a compelling animation of the changes on the Arbor Day website. In a few years, I'll be living in the tropics--without having to up sticks and move there.

Writing note. Finished reading the first-pass pages and marking corrections on The Tale of Briar Bank, due back to my editor next week and out in late September. Amazon is listing the book, but I haven't had time to get our book page together yet. If you're planning to preorder through Story Circle, hang on another week and I'll have it done. On a related subject: My daughter Robin is helping me with a new book club program we just launched. If you belong to a book club, or if your library has books clubs, (or if you're just interested), take a look here to see what we're doing.

I finished Chapter Two in Applebeck Orchard yesterday and will begin the third chapter today--up to 10,000 words now. If you've ever visited the Lake District, you've no doubt taken the Windermere Ferry, which has a fascinating history. I'm finding ways to work that history into this book.

Reading note. People tend to focus on the here and now. The problem is that, once global warming is something that most people can feel in the course of their daily lives, it will be too late to prevent much larger, potentially catastrophic changes . . . As best as can be determined, the world is now warmer than it has been at any point in the last two millennia, and, if current trends continue, by the end of the century it will likely be hotter than at any point in the last two million years.--Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, Apr. 25, 2005 

A Beatrix Potter Quilt!

Isn't this a totally, incredibly, absolutely gorgeous quilt? It was designed and made by Jinni Turkelson of Grand Rapids MI--and then she sent it to ME, to keep me warm on cold evenings when I'm knitting by the fire. (That's Jinni, standing on a bench on her deck, holding the quilt.) Jinni, I love it, and I'm more grateful than I can say. You're a peach. And oh, BTW, I solved the mystery: Jinni said she practiced doing some alphabet work with her new sewing machine and told me to look for it. "It's a mystery," she said. This isn't the greatest photo, but maybe you can see that she's embroidered "Cottage Tales Series" at the top and my name at the bottom of this lovely panel from The Tale of Peter Rabbit--Peter watching Mr. McGregor weeding the lettuces.

UPDATE. 5/22/08. After I had a chance to study Jinni's quilt more closely and read everyone's comments, I've decided that I'm going to take it when I do book talks at libraries. The quilt will give me a chance to talk about the way one person's creativity (Beatrix's "little books") can inspire other people: can inspire the Cottage Tales, biographers like Linda Lear and Judy Taylor and many others who have written about Beatrix's life and work, as well as quiltmakers, artists, knitters, and embroiderers. Wouldn't Beatrix love the circle of friends her work has created?

Writing note. I have the feeling that Jinni's quilt will do more than just keep me warm--it will inspire me, as I settle back to work on the next Cottage Tale. I'm into the third chapter now, in a scene with Beatrix and Will Heelis. The trick is to bring them closer together, romantically, but still find believable ways to keep them apart. This is only Book 6, and they can't get married until Book 8! Today, I'm working on a scene with a new character, Fritz the Ferret, who lives under the bridge over Wilfin Beck.

Gardening note. I was a little late getting the squash in, but both the zucchini and the butternut are up and looking good. The madonna lilies are blooming. Photo tomorrow.

Reading note. From Linda Lear's biography, Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, p. 234: [Beatrix] squeezed out every available moment at the farm, gardening and looking after the haying, but had little time or energy for books. "I cannot screw anything out of my head at present!" she told Millie [Warne, Norman's sister]."I have done a little sketching when it does not rain, and I spent a very wet hour inside the pig stye drawing the pig. It tries to nibble my boots, which is interrupting. I don't think it ever answers to try & finish a book in summer..."

Snow on the Sangres

New Mexico Snowfall. Bill (spending a couple of weeks in New Mexico) sent this photo, taken from our front deck. The village in the background, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo range, is Rociada, a tiny, very old community with a church at the center. Before the area was settled by Anglos, the Hispano-Indian people who lived here pastured sheep in the valley and on the mountain, and raised food on plots irrigated by Manuelitas Creek. It snowed in the Sangres on Tuesday night, the night before the storms came through here. No damage here at Meadow Knoll, although I got ready to go to the storm shelter (we call it Archie Bunker), just in case. Lots of damage in Austin, though, especially in Tarrytown, where I used to live. Trees down, windows broken by hail, auto damage. No tornado touchdown, although several funnels were reported. It was a wild night.

I'm back at work on the sixth Cottage Tale, The Tale of Applebeck Orchard. I'm also reading page proofs for Book 5, Briar Bank, and that has helped put me in the right frame of mind. People sometimes ask how hard it is to switch from doing China to writing about Beatrix Potter. That's not hard, actually. What's hard is to switch from all the book promotion I did in March and April--blog tour, live tour, etc--and get down to the business of writing. I'm not going to try to do a separate book blog, as I did with the most recent China Bayles book. That takes too much time. I'll try to keep a running report here, for those of you who find that sort of thing interesting.

Writing Note. In March, I wrote a prologue and part of a first chapter, took it out last week, and put it back again on Friday, edited from four pages to a page-and-a-half. Yesterday, I wrote a couple of scenes, one with the village animals, another with a couple of village women hanging up their laundry. Both scenes set up the main problem of the book, which is the closure of a footpath, which (of course) is associated with various criminal acts--nothing very bloody, since this is a Cottage Tale. Footpath closures and threats of closures were big deals in those years (this book is set in 1910), and Beatrix served on a local footpath committee, to ensure that the paths were kept open and that people did not abuse them. The scene with the women also sets up a subplot and re-characterizes one of the women (these are continuing characters), who is going to be a central figure in Book 7.

Reading Note. "Historically, access to footpaths across private lands had been a controversial issue. Hardwick Rawnsley [one of the founders of the National Trust and a friend of Beatrix and her parents] was a long-time advocate of open footpaths and his views once again influenced [Beatrix's]. Potter's election to the [footpath] committee signified her deeper involvement in local affairs, not only as a large landowner in Sawrey, with herds of cattle and sheep, but as someone with recognizable expertise about boundaries and rights of way, and as an advocate of open access to fields and fells."--Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, by Linda Lear (p. 244)

Moving on

There's no cure for sadness better than friendship. Thank you for all your comments and emails. And yesterday, I was welcomed at the May meeting of the Herb Society of America's Pioneer Unit, held at Winedale. I talked about herbs (naturally) and Henry Flowers, who manages the gardens at Festival Hill, brought an extensive, impressive display of nightshades. Fun to be with friends, fun to share what we know about the plants we love. Here's just a glimpse of Henry's display.

























Notice the peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos. And here's the rest (second photo)--the potato end of the table! Notice the vodka (you knew that vodka is made from potatoes, didn't you?) and the eggplant: the "mad apple," it was called, when it was brought to Europe from Asia. Henry has also included a petunia, a nicotiana, and several other ornamentals.

























A great display that gave people a very clear idea about the remarkable range of this plant family.

Home again for a while, I hope (with just a couple of day trips out), and happy to be here. It's Bill's turn now--he went off to New Mexico this morning, where he can enjoy some R&R and maybe do a little work on the house. Log houses always need something, it seems! Next week, I'm getting back to work on the next Beatrix book, The Tale of Applebeck Orchard. Can't wait to find out what it's all about.

Reading note. Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can't--and, in fact, you're not supposed to--know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing.--Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Sad news

I'm sorry to tell you this, but Lady suffered a stroke (we think) this morning. She was non-responsive when we got her to the vet and he put her to sleep. She'd been having quite a bit of trouble getting up and down stairs and in and out of the car, but we hadn't quite expected this. She was a rescue dog of indeterminate age. Back in 2000 or so, she appeared at the local Rottweiler rescue, looking for help, and was passed along to the Lab rescue folks, who brought us together.

Lady lived a rich, joyful life, full of grass and trees with teasing squirrels and birds and a creek and a lake to swim in, and food in her dish (her favorite part of the day) and a cool spot beside my desk for long naps on hot summer afternoons. She loved chew sticks and puppy treats and frisbees and tennis balls. She celebrated brisk mornings along the meadow paths and starlit evenings when she could disappear into the grass, black as the blackest shadow. She blessed us with a quiet, undemanding affection. She will be missed.

Home again

Home and winding down after a full month of in-and-out road work. And believe me, it's work, but all part of the job—a part I love, except that I love being home, too.

Here are my roadnotes from the recent Nightshade trip:

Wednesday night (April 23) at the library in historic Columbus TX, lots of people who bought lots of books (for Story Circle).

Thursday and Friday (April 24-25), at the Master Gardeners conference in Conroe, where I made two presentations (on Shaker herbs and Nicholas Culpeper and astrological herbalism); chatted with lots of gardening friends I hadn't seen for a while; and sold books.

On Saturday (April 26), I drove into Houston (brave me!) to the Garden Center at Hermann Park, for lunch with the South Texas Unit of the Herb Association of America and a book sale ably managed by Lucia Bettler, of Lucia’s Garden (a must-visit place, the next time you’re in Houston).

Later that afternoon, I drove over to Murder By the Book, one of the best mystery bookstores in the entire country (check out Dean's video of the store). Not the best time: late Saturday afternoon on a pretty day. I expected maybe fifteen or twenty people. Instead, we had a full house, nearly 50 folks and plenty of mail orders and store stock to sign.

Sunday (April 27), I was at Arbor Gate Nursery in Tomball, where I expected a rain-out (storms to the north and south of us and a fifteen-degree temperature drop) but enjoyed a dry afternoon with plenty of garden-shopper traffic and several people who read about the event on the blog. One gal drove all the way from Richmond, south of Houston, a terrific compliment. Beverly (the owner) sold out of her stock of Nightshade and I bought some herbs for my wheelbarrow herb garden.

Monday (April 27), a day off, sort of. I drove from Tomball to Houston to pick up another box of Nightshade, then to Brenham. Stopped at a nursery and bought a couple of tomato plants and some zuchinni and squash seeds for the garden. Read, knitted (working on the second sock of a BigFoot pair), watched TV, vegetated.

Tuesday (April 28). I spoke at a luncheon at Blinn College, then drove a hundred miles to Angleton, where I spoke to 160 Friends of the Library, at a dinner held in the Presbyterian Church. More books sold for Story Circle. I don't have the final amount yet, but it looks like the book sales for the two trips and the website this month have come to nearly $7,000. Many, many thanks to all of you who have contributed to this fund-raising project! Story Circle and I are grateful. (And we hope you enjoy your books!)

Wednesday (April 29). Drove home (200+ miles) and settled into catch-up mode: urgent emails, a bushel of mail, books to be packed and sent, laundry and housecleaning to be done, vet trips for the dogs. Everything is incredibly, deliciously green, the roses and iris are blooming, and it’s been remarkably cool.

So glad to be home, here, right here.

Reading note. If you can't find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?--Dogen Zenji, circa 1250